Seismic Soundoff

Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)

Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly.

  1. 4 days ago

    15: The Conversation Geoscience Cannot Afford to Ignore (Inside IMAGE '26)

    Geoscience needs more people who can solve problems across energy, water, climate, critical minerals, and the subsurface, yet departments are losing students, funding, and in some cases the field experiences that help build strong geologists. Esther Oyedele and Dolores van der Kolk discuss what they heard across IMAGE about that disconnect and why solving it will take more than recruitment. Students need to see a wider range of geoscience careers, universities need flexibility without weakening the fundamentals, and industry and professional societies need to help support the training, field work, and access that make those careers possible. The workforce problem is visible. Many of the solutions are visible too. The question is whether the geoscience community is willing to support them. Listen to the complete Inside IMAGE Podcast Series at https://www.imageevent.org/podcast.

    15: The Conversation Geoscience Cannot Afford to Ignore (Inside IMAGE '26)

  2. 27 Aug

    305: Building Trust in Elastic FWI

    “We always aim for 60 percent. The other 40 percent, we are ready to make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and then move forward.” A 600-meter carbonate platform forced Dr. Ahmad Riza Ghazali and his PETRONAS team to reconsider a basic assumption in their seismic workflow. Acoustic FWI and reverse time migration could not adequately image the layers beneath it, while 3D distributed acoustic sensing revealed extensive P-to-S mode conversion at the carbonate boundary. That evidence led the team toward multiparameter elastic FWI. And images that Ahmad says helped support successful drilling. His SEG Pacific South Honorary Lecture, Next Generation Seismic Imaging Elastic FWI and Wavefield Solutions for Seeing Through Complex Carbonates, turns that experience into a regional argument. As exploration moves toward deeper Miocene carbonates, better physics may expose plays conventional imaging misses. The remaining challenge is economic and organizational because elastic FWI costs substantially more, requires teams to learn together, and asks decision-makers to invest before the outcome is certain. See Ahmad's upcoming schedule and register at https://seg.org/education/lectures/seg-honorary-lecture-ahmad-ghazali/. QUESTIONS THIS CONVERSATION ANSWERS * What does mode conversion reveal that acoustic FWI misses beneath thick carbonates? * How did 3D DAS change the team’s understanding of a failed imaging result? * What gives decision-makers enough confidence to drill from an emerging workflow? THIS EPISODE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY HART ENERGY SUPER DUG Conference & Expo is Hart Energy's premier shale event and the largest event of its kind. If you're looking to stay ahead of what's next in U.S. shale, don't miss the 2026 SUPER DUG, happening September 15-17 in Houston. Join the industry's top operators, executives and investors for three days of market outlooks, strategic discussions and unmatched networking focused on the trends shaping the future of oil and gas. Register today at https://hartenergy.com/SUPERDUG26. Be sure to use promo code SD26-SEG at checkout to save on your registration. Be part of the conversations shaping the future of U.S. shale. ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.

    305: Building Trust in Elastic FWI

  3. 21 Aug

    14: How Exhibiting at IMAGE Can Shape What You Build Next (Inside IMAGE '26)

    Julian Chenin calls IMAGE “Disneyland for geoscience,” and after walking the exhibition floor it is easy to understand what he means. But for ROGII, the real value is what happens when people stop at the booth, pull out a notebook, and start sketching an idea together. Julian describes it as innovation happening in real time, with people from different parts of the subsurface workflow suddenly in the same conversation. Those conversations have mattered as ROGII has grown from a company focused mainly on geosteering into a much broader part of the subsurface workflow. This year Julian is hearing renewed interest in older assets, northern Brazil, Guyana, Africa, the Gulf of Mexico, and underdeveloped unconventional plays. His point is that exhibiting is not simply about showing what you already built. Sometimes the conversations on the floor help determine what you should build next. LINKS * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

    14: How Exhibiting at IMAGE Can Shape What You Build Next (Inside IMAGE '26)

  4. 21 Aug

    13: AI Is an Accelerator, Not the Decision-Maker (Inside IMAGE '26)

    Companies have spent years storing more and more data, but Amii Rozell and Hana Kabazi make an important distinction: saving the final answer is not the same as saving why you made the decision. Three years later, the interpretation may still be there while the lease problem, environmental concern, rejected idea, meeting discussion, or uncertainty behind it has disappeared. AI can help recover that context, but it can also sound very sure of itself when the record has holes. That leads to one of the most useful AI conversations I heard at IMAGE. Amii says companies are doing plenty of explaining about what AI is, but not enough training on how employees should actually use it. Hana’s advice is essentially the same thing teachers have always asked for: prove it. Ask where the answer came from, ask what the model does not know, understand the difference between public tools and protected enterprise systems, and do your own research before turning an AI inference into an operational decision. LINKS * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

    13: AI Is an Accelerator, Not the Decision-Maker (Inside IMAGE '26)

  5. 20 Aug

    12: How GWB Turns Geoscience Into Human Impact (Inside IMAGE '26)

    Geoscientists Without Borders starts with a simple idea: geoscience can improve someone’s life. Jim Funk has seen what access to clean water can mean in African communities, while Craig Beasley talks about projects that help people prepare for earthquakes and volcanoes, recover forgotten burial sites near Houston, and give students the experience of using geoscience for something deeply human. Twenty years in, GWB does not have a shortage of ideas or need. Craig and Jim say dozens of proposals can arrive when only a handful can be supported. That makes funding one of the central challenges now. More money could mean larger grants, longer projects, and work capable of reaching far more people. GWB has already shown what geoscientists can do. The question is how much more becomes possible if the profession and industry chooses to back it. LINKS * Geoscientists Without Borders - https://seg.org/programs/geoscientists-without-borders/ * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

    12: How GWB Turns Geoscience Into Human Impact (Inside IMAGE '26)

  6. 20 Aug

    11: Bringing Sheriff's Dictionary to the Spanish-Speaking World (Inside IMAGE '26)

    This one is personal for me. I worked with Reinaldo Michelena, Lucía Torrado, and Sergio Chávez-Pérez on this project for years, and after more than a decade of effort, seeing a printed Spanish edition of Robert Sheriff’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Geophysics at IMAGE was genuinely moving. More than 140 volunteers helped turn thousands of technical terms and hundreds of figures into a book for geoscientists who work in Spanish every day. And this was intentionally human work. No AI translation. People from across the Spanish-speaking world debated terminology, challenged regional bias, redrew figures, wrote code, and kept showing up until the book was real. Some of the people who helped make it possible, including Sven Treitel, Héctor Alfonso, and Susan Stamm, did not live to see the finished book. That gives this accomplishment a weight that goes far beyond publishing a dictionary. By the end of the conversation, Reinaldo, Lucía, and Sergio are reflecting on friendship, professional growth, and what it means to spend years working on such a meaningful project.

    11: Bringing Sheriff's Dictionary to the Spanish-Speaking World (Inside IMAGE '26)

  7. 19 Aug

    10: The Other Half of a Technical Career (Inside IMAGE '26)

    The SEG & AAPG Women’s Network brought together six leaders for a conversation on technical leadership and decision-making in complex energy environments. The panel focused on what happens as technical experts take on greater responsibility, where decisions cannot wait for perfect information and leadership increasingly depends on understanding people as well as the work. A few ideas that stood out from the panel: * Patricia de Lugão: Good managers are people who know the subject. * Rachael Moreland: Even a degree in neuroscience has helped shape her path in geoscience. * Lorena Moscardelli: Procrastinate. Sometimes what first looks like noise becomes signal. * Marianne Rauch: You cannot get to 100 percent certainty. At some point, you have to say, “Enough.” * Allison Kennedy Thurmond: Be intentional. Be ready with Plan B and Plan C. * Tai Prince: Not everyone thinks like you. Remember that when dealing with a difficult challenge or colleague. After the panel, I continued the conversation with Patricia de Lugão and Allison Kennedy Thurmond. This is a true Inside IMAGE episode, as Patricia, Allison, and I built on what was shared on the panel in real time. Even with that impromptu feel, there are meaningful tips and well-earned wisdom throughout. For the full description of the Women’s Network Executive Panel and biographies of all six panelists, visit https://www.imageevent.org/special-events/special-session-panel-session/high-impact-technical-leadership-executive-decision-making-in-complex-energy-environments. And a special thanks to the moderator of the panel, Maria Angela Capello. LINKS * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * View the Inside IMAGE '26 Podcast Schedule - public.3.basecamp.com/p/LETDMZk3GvZ42PzjQMdmY7in * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

    10: The Other Half of a Technical Career (Inside IMAGE '26)

  8. 19 Aug

    9: What Great Geoscientists Keep Learning (Inside IMAGE '26)

    Tom Ewing and Mike Forrest join me ahead of the AAPG and SEG Honors and Awards ceremonies for a conversation that quickly becomes less about the awards and more about what kept them engaged for so many decades. Tom talks about the career turns that moved him from tectonics into the Texas subsurface, consulting, regional geology, and a long habit of publishing work other geoscientists could actually use. Mike keeps coming back to something even simpler: seismic interpretation is still fun, curiosity still matters, and he still enjoys learning alongside students and colleagues. What gives the conversation its energy is that neither sounds finished. They talk about saying yes, giving back, staying useful, and making room for the next generation in a profession that looks very different from the one they entered. LINKS * AAPG Honors and Awards - https://www.aapg.org/news-and-media/explorer/announcing-aapg-s-honors-and-awards-for-2027/ * SEG Honors and Awards - https://seg.org/news/society-of-exploration-geophysicists-announces-2026-honors-and-awards-recipients/ * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * View the Inside IMAGE '26 Podcast Schedule - public.3.basecamp.com/p/LETDMZk3GvZ42PzjQMdmY7in * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

    9: What Great Geoscientists Keep Learning (Inside IMAGE '26)
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About

Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly.

Information

  • Creator
    Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    321
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Seismic Soundoff

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